200 years ago, on this day, 1st March 1816, Francis...

July 26th 2017

200 years ago, on this day, 1st March 1816, Francis...

200 years ago, on this day, 1st March 1816, Francis Greenway, was appointed as the first government architect in Australia.

The British government had earlier rejected the request of NSW Governor Lachlan Macquarie to appoint a government architect, and insisted that Greenway’s job be temporary. Yet Greenway became the first of 23 NSW government architects whose collective tenure spans two centuries. While their titles and job descriptions have varied, their role has remained essentially the one pioneered by Francis Greenway.

Lachlan Macquarie’s ambition was to make a handsome town of Sydney, a goal at odds with London’s insistence that the new colony be managed as a deterrent address, offering only the most basic subsistence.

For 200 years, the Government Architect’s office has followed Greenway’s ambition to design for the future and set the architectural standard for Sydney and NSW.